BRUNO BAUER: Theological Explanation of the Gospels – II. Strauss’s tradition hypothesis

Theological Explanation of the Gospels Die theologische Erklärung der Evangelien by Bruno Bauer 1852 II. Strauss’ tradition hypothesis. Topic headings in the text below are my additions to Bauer’s text. 68 The proposition that language is the man and the word is the thing remains valid even when the language of a point of view … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Theological Explanation of the Gospels – II. Strauss’s tradition hypothesis”


6. Paul the Apologist

90 6. Paul the Apologist If Paul, as portrayed in the Acts of the Apostles, had to share the fame of miraculous power with Peter, and even had the honor of being worthy of direct revelations from heaven and wonderful visions, which he could only make use of after it was legitimized by the same … Continue reading “6. Paul the Apologist”


4. The Apostles’ Convention

60 4 The Apostles’ Convention A local dispute in Antioch, which was accidentally caused by some arrivals from Judea by their assertion of the necessity of circumcision for salvation, causes a decision that settles the whole dispute about the necessity of the law, secures the freedom of the Gentile Christians and establishes the peace of … Continue reading “4. The Apostles’ Convention”


BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – VIII. The Completion of the New Testament Literature

345/346 VIII. The Completion of the New Testament Literature. 1. A Great History and a Late Poem. In a series of images, we have seen the fate of the Empire, the nationalities, and the social classes of the first two centuries of our era unfold before us. As diverse as the figures were that moved … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – VIII. The Completion of the New Testament Literature”


Did Paul Quote Jesus on Divorce? — Getting History for Atheists Wrong (Again) — #5

Continuing from Getting History for Atheists Wrong (Again) — #4 An examination of the claim that “Paul refers to his teachings that Jesus made during in his earthly ministry, on divorce . . .” Source-Data Interpretation External facts / context related to interpretation 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 To the married I give this command (not I, but … Continue reading “Did Paul Quote Jesus on Divorce? — Getting History for Atheists Wrong (Again) — #5”


Bad History for Atheists (3) — Proof-texting, Circularity, Fake Facts, Insults

At about 57 mins of the MythVision podcast O’Neill underscores the importance of Paul’s claim to have met James the “brother of the Lord”. Not only is Paul’s claim from a contemporary of Jesus but it is even from one who is opposed to his source:  Paul is saying, says O’Neill, “Yeh, I have met … Continue reading “Bad History for Atheists (3) — Proof-texting, Circularity, Fake Facts, Insults”


Trumpian Style Response to Mythicism

I am catching up on too my long-neglected RSS feeds and came across this post from James McGrath: Jesus, James and Peter Mythicism. It is worth noting precisely what it is that mythicists do with Paul’s references to Jesus in his letters, and just how easily the same could be done with James, the brother … Continue reading “Trumpian Style Response to Mythicism”


Review part 9: Questioning the Historicity of Jesus / Lataster (Case for Mythicism – the Evidence)

The third part of Raphael Lataster’s Questioning the Historicity of Jesus is where he presents his case for mythicism, and since his case is essentially a review of Richard Carrier’s arguments in On the Historicity of Jesus, this post is a review of a review. Lataster has is differences from Carrier and several times points … Continue reading “Review part 9: Questioning the Historicity of Jesus / Lataster (Case for Mythicism – the Evidence)”


Review part 7: Questioning the Historicity of Jesus / Lataster (The Problems of Paul – 2)

We now come to what I think is Raphael Lataster’s strongest argument yet for being agnostic about the historicity of Jesus. It’s the last part of chapter 6 addressing “problems of Paul”. Lataster begins by pointing out the well-known divergences between the accounts of Paul and the gospels and what these divergences specifically suggest about … Continue reading “Review part 7: Questioning the Historicity of Jesus / Lataster (The Problems of Paul – 2)”


Mythicism and Paul’s Claims to Supernatural Revelation (Engaging with McGrath — 2)

Again waylaid by life experiences so surfacing here another post begun way back. The first post in this series is  Addressing James McGrath’s Arguments Against Mythicism — 1 This time we are addressing McGrath, James F. 2011. “Mythicism and Paul’s Claims to Supernatural Revelation.” Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath (blog). October 18, … Continue reading “Mythicism and Paul’s Claims to Supernatural Revelation (Engaging with McGrath — 2)”


Imagine No Interpolations

What if the Testimonium Flavianum, the passage about Jesus and his followers, in Antiquities by Josephus was written in full (or maybe with the exception of no more than 3 words) by Josephus? I know that would raise many questions about the nature of the rest of our sources but let’s imagine the authenticity of … Continue reading “Imagine No Interpolations”


Simon Gathercole’s Failure to Address Mythicism: (#5)

The abstract to Simon Gathercole’s article in the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus begins The present article seeks to show that the case for the mythical Jesus is seriously undermined by the evidence of the undisputed Pauline epistles. By way of a thought experiment, these letters are taken in isolation from other … Continue reading “Simon Gathercole’s Failure to Address Mythicism: (#5)”


Addressing S. Gathercole’s Case for Jesus’ Humanity: “Born from a Woman” (#2)

We introduced this series in the previous post. Simon Gathercole begins his case with Galatians 4:4 where we read that God sent his Son, “born of a woman, born under the law”. To Gathercole, the meaning of the verse is obvious: In Galatians 4, Paul says that God sent his son, ‘born from a woman’ … Continue reading “Addressing S. Gathercole’s Case for Jesus’ Humanity: “Born from a Woman” (#2)”